A short Story by Robin Bradbery
What was I thinking? My shift was almost done and I only had a few minutes left until the night supervisor took over.
I should have let him handle the call.
I should have just gone home.
I didn’t.
~
It was late afternoon, almost evening really, on what had been a sunny, but rather humid, Tuesday. The day had passed relatively quietly with only the usual calls.
Usual. Now that was an interesting term.
I came up on the scene of the accident, an auto-pedestrian affair that looked like so many others, and surveyed the situation. One beat up pickup with severe front-end damage, must have been going pretty fast, one very upset, wet-faced toddler being checked over by paramedics, one very distraught driver being questioned by officers, a tow truck and an ambulance. And finally, one shrouded body lying on the pickup hood. Add to that the usual amount of curious onlookers and those with morbid leanings and there you have it. Unfortunately it was a scene I had seen far too many times.
Yep, that’s what I thought.
“So. What’s the story?” I asked a passing patrolman as I got out of the cruiser. He belonged to the late shift but was working this scene for some reason. Maybe he was pulling a double, either way I couldn’t recall his name though I knew I had seen him around.
After giving my badge a quick glance, yeah that’s right buddy I outrank you, he took out a pen and flipped through his note pad. “From what we have been able to piece together, Mrs Cole here”, his pen pointed toward the driver, “was headed eastbound when the boy”, the ballpoint swung lazily toward the toddler, “ran onto the road from between those two cars. She saw the kid and slammed on her brakes but it was too late.”
“Ah, some kind citizen pushed the child to safety but couldn’t save himself? It’s almost like something they show on TV huh? Except this poor sap didn’t roll harmlessly across the hood and continue on.” I shook my head as I indicated the inert form laying across the hood. It’s true. The TV lies. In real life people don’t fair well in a contest against a moving vehicle. It’s simple physics. A one ton chunk of steel and plastic versus a sack of meat and the sack will loose every time. Maybe my job was making me a bit cynical?
The patrolman ignored my crude comment and continued. “We looked all over for a victim. Heck, Bob even walked the ditch and checked people’s backyards. We figured somebody had to be in pretty bad shape”
“What makes you think there was a second victim?”
“Ah, actually, we were looking for the first victim.”
“The first?” I asked confused. Was he blind? The sheet-covered body was still laying on top of her hood for Gods sake. I shook off the slight irritation. I would be home soon. Roast beef was even now being lovingly sliced in preparation for my arrival “Were there any witnesses?”
“No sir. Of course not.” He saw my hackles starting to rise and put up his hands. “You’d better just go over there. Your not going to believe me if I tell you. This one is something you have to…….”, he paused as if considering his wording, “Well you just got to check it out for yourself.”
Now I was intrigued. Perhaps this wasn’t as cut and dried as it appeared? As I approached the covered body I spied the Coroner. Recognizing him I beckoned him over. “Hey J. maybe you can shed some light on this, do we have an ID on the victim?”
He looked pale and a little rattled. Interesting, James wasn’t ever bothered by this stuff. Heck, I’ve seen him eating a sandwich right after an autopsy.
“No. As you can imagine we are having a bit of trouble in that area.”
“No. I can’t imagine.” I growled. I was getting tired of whatever game these guys were playing. “Well what do you know?”
“The body is around six foot two, clean shaven and, um male.” He seemed a bit embarrassed divulging that last fact.
“And that’s it? A six-foot plus male? What is his race? What is he wearing? Was there any ID, a name tag, anything?” Yeah, I know, my tone was a wee bit condescending, but, come on. He should know this stuff.
“Ah no. He is err.. was, naked.”
“Naked?”
“Yep. Starkers”. The patrolman chimed in almost gleefully from over my shoulder.
I glowered at the patrolman and his smile vanished immediately. Who was this guy? I have got to remember to never ask him over to any family gatherings.
“Naked?” “And no one,” I swept the busy intersection with a telling glance, “noticed a six foot something, naked man walking around in the middle of the afternoon?”
“No sir.” James said with a wicked grin then lifted up the edge of the sheet.
Yep. I should have just gone home.
Should have let Johnson handle this one. The roast beef was gonna get cold. I hate cold roast beef.
Under the sheet you could plainly see the dented hood, the shattered windshield and that’s all.
No body.
No blood.
Nothing.
I took the edge of the sheet from him and gently lowered it back down. Clearly outlined, was a bent and battered body. I lifted the sheet once again and slowly reached underneath, hesitantly prodding at the seemingly vacant space. My outstretched finger instantly met something I could only describe as flesh. Cold, clammy, dead, flesh.
Now, mind you, I have touched dead people plenty of times. But this? This was something different. The hair began rising on my neck and arms as I slowly lowered the sheet. Unconsciously I wiped my finger on my slacks.
“The tow truck driver actually found the body.” The patrol officer offered. “He was cleaning away the broken glass when he tried to sweep off the hood and …well…..” He motioned toward the sheet.
“We figure this guy must have seen the kid wandering out, threw him to safety and took the hit but no one saw him because he’s……” He stopped.
He couldn’t say it.
I knew I couldn’t say it.
Heck, it hurt to just think it.
Right then two things happened at once. The kids’ mother arrived amidst much wailing and relieved crying and a second ambulance arrived.
As a cop, you learn to look for details an average person might miss. It was almost second nature. I noticed that the ambulance, while wearing the normal trappings of Mercy Hospital, was not the usual older type model driven by the Mercy staff. I also didn’t recognize any of the Paramedics. One new guy sure, that was not unusual but all three of these guys were strangers. Very unusual. As they got their equipment ready, I noticed their mannerisms were not those of friendly, helpful paramedics. Instead, they exuded military training in every calculated efficient movement. You could almost smell it on them. Besides, I didn’t know of any paramedics that wore freshly polished dress shoes to work.
By this time I was in full investigation mode. Things were not looking right and I wasn’t just talking about the body. Christ, the body, well that didn’t look like anything at all did it? I needed answers and I figured these guys had them. I turned to go question them when my cell began to ring.
Deb, wondering where I was no doubt. I was supposed to call her right back when I decided to take this call and now sliced beef smothered with gravy is even now sitting cold and uneaten. Damn! The gravy is going to be a solid lump at this rate. It’s just not the same warmed up in the microwave.
But it wasn’t Deb. It was the Chief.
He began quickly. “Ed, listen, I know you’re a stickler about these things but you need to just let the Mercy guys take the body. I’ll take care of the report. Go on home and forget all this. You don’t need this.” Just before he hung up, I could have sworn I heard him mumbling that he didn’t need it either.
I gave the scene a final look over. The driver was filling out some paperwork. The slightly scratched, but otherwise unharmed, toddler was being consoled by his anxious mother. The wrecker was backing up to hook onto the truck. And the body? The still shrouded body was being strapped to a Mercy Hospital gurney…
Wait.
What body? I didn’t see any body.
I got back into my cruiser and headed home. The gravy might just be salvageable.
